


Ghost in the Machine

by dxmichelle



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Mystery, Nothing incredibly graphic though, Rescue Missions, Sort of a 'Whodunnit' but without the murder, Storytelling in...reverse?, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-07-29 17:56:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16269398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dxmichelle/pseuds/dxmichelle
Summary: Yugi and Seto are forced to work together to uncover the plot behind their mysterious disappearance. And while their friends work tirelessly to find them, it soon becomes obvious that whatever they’ve gotten mixed up with this time is far more dangerous than any Shadow Game.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /Text/ Yami to Yugi  
>  **/Text/** Yugi to Yami

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A brief burst of static, closely followed by a garbled voice over a radio, and then silence filled the sterile room, broken only by the steady intervals of a heart-rate monitor. There were only four occupants of the room: two asleep, one slumped uncomfortably in the visitor’s chair next one of the beds, and the other standing, guarding, at the door. The privacy curtains, white like the rest of the room, were completely drawn, cutting off the sentry from his charges.

 A quiet buzzing made the visitor jump, raising his head where it rested awkwardly on the edge of the mattress. He removed one of his hands from its resting place embracing a bandaged one and reached into his pocket to remove a cell phone. Straightening up, he peered at the notification across the screen: it was a text.

_Téa:  What’s going on? There are police all over the place, and they won’t let us inside._

The boy sighed. After sitting vigil with him for what seemed like forever, they had gone to get food from a nearby takeout restaurant. It had only been about thirty minutes since the gang had vacated the room, but it was long enough for terror to strike. He glanced to his right at the other sleeping occupant before quickly typing a response.

_They were spotted entering the hospital. We’re on lockdown._

Téa’s response was almost instantaneous. _Are you guys ok??_

What an odd question, considering the circumstances surrounding them all. He was stuck in this hospital room while the local authorities chased down a killer hunting for them. No, he was certainly _not_ fine. But he knew what she really meant.

_We’re okay. One of the officers was here just before it all started, but she went off to help find the guys. She left a radio behind, so we can hear what’s going on._

He set the phone down on the mattress he had dozed off against and stretched the stiffness out of his neck. From the other side of the privacy curtain, he could hear the radio go off again, but he wasn’t able to hear what was going on as the volume was suddenly turned down. Well, so much for being nosy. Now the _only_ sounds to be heard were the reassurance of a steady heartbeat.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The creak of the second mattress and the rustling of fabric made the boy twist in his seat. He jumped up and twisted the chair around in time to see the familiar violet eyes slowly open.

“Yugi?” It wasn’t much more than a whisper, but he couldn’t afford to be any louder, not when their assailants were somewhere in the building.

The violet eyes blinked against the light in the room, trying to focus before turning to meet slate-grey ones. He pushed himself up on shaky elbows. “M-Mokuba?”

The younger Kaiba leaned closer. “How do you feel?”

Yugi rubbed at his eyes and forehead, to erase the last remnants of sleep, and noticed as he pulled his hand away that his wrists were bandaged. He attempted to sit up, but Mokuba beat him to it, hitting the button on the side of the bed to elevate it.

“Tired…but okay, I think.” He took a look around the room. Aside from the one Mokuba Kaiba sat in, three extra chairs were crammed around his bed. A heavy white curtain was drawn, keeping him from seeing anything that wasn’t immediately surrounding the beds. A cursory glance down revealed he was still (mostly) dressed, and was only hooked up to an IV line.

“Aside from a few bruises, the doctor said you were mainly just suffering from dehydration and exhaustion,” said Mokuba, pointing to the IV drip. “I think those are just fluids, not drugs or anything.” He propped his elbows up on the edge of Yugi’s bed. “They’re gonna keep an eye on you for a while though, but still - you got lucky.”

Mokuba followed Yugi’s gaze around to the three empty chairs. “Joey, Tristan, and Téa left to bring food back. It’s been at least six hours since you were brought in, and we’ve all been here the entire time.”

“I got lucky….” Yugi murmured. What did he mean by that? He struggled to think back, not remembering exactly where he had passed out. His thoughts were broken by the steady beeping in the room and he lifted his head. Wait – he wasn’t hooked up to a monitor. And he wasn’t the only one that needed saving. If _Mokuba_ had stayed behind to sit with him, of all his friends, that must mean he wasn’t the only ill occupant of the room.

Yugi glanced around Mokuba, and felt his breath catch in his chest. “Kaiba….”

Mokuba wiped a stray tear from his eye with his sleeve. “He hasn’t woken up yet.”

To say that Kaiba looked worse for wear would be an understatement. Unlike him, Yugi saw he was buried under several blankets, both hands wrapped in bandages that covered up past his forearms, and another was wrapped around his head, disappearing under his bangs. His pale skin eerily showed off the heavy purple bruising that covered his neck. There was also an IV line in, although there was more than one bag attached to it, and the machine on the other side of the bed was chirping out his heart rate. As unnerving as the constant beeping was in the otherwise quiet room, he was at least relieved to see the slow rise and fall of his rival’s chest.

At least he had been rescued too.

“What happened to him?”

Mokuba frowned. “You don’t know?”

Yugi shook his head. “We split up. He had a head injury from the attack in the hotel, but I wasn’t around for the rest of it. Is he going to be okay?”

“They think so,” said Mokuba quietly, taking his brother’s hand in his own again. “It’ll be easier when he wakes up. Roland and Joey found him in what they called ‘an electrician’s nightmare’. They said he suffered from electrical burns, but that obviously wasn’t all of it.”

Yugi cringed. That sounded _painful_.

Mokuba jerked his head towards the direction of the door as it opened. Low voices were heard from the other side of the privacy curtain before the door closed again. Footsteps were heard moving through the room and Roland appeared from around the edge of the curtain and sank down into the one of empty clustered chairs.

“Welcome back, Mr. Muto,” he said tiredly, “It’s good to see you’re alright.”

The thick bandage over the left side of his forehead did not go unnoticed, nor did the row of stitches hiding along his eyebrow. It was weird for Yugi to see him without his dark sunglasses.

Roland caught him staring and pointed towards the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. “I was struck with one when you and Mr. Kaiba were attacked. I assure you, it looks worse than it actually is.”

“What’s going on out there, Roland?” asked Mokuba. “Who was that?”

“One of the investigating detectives,” said Roland. “The elevators have been shut down, and the floor’s exits are covered.”

Yugi blinked. “What happened?”

Roland paused, listening to the sudden radio chatter through his earpiece. “Your assailants apparently were not happy to find you two had escaped. The hospital is on lockdown.”

Yugi shivered slightly, drawing his knees to his chest.

Roland suddenly got up and reached for one of the extra blankets on the side table next to his employer’s bed, as well as the small bag sitting beside it. “We found this in the building not far from where you were initially held.”

Yugi drew the blanket around his shoulders, looked into the bag and gasped. He immediately turned it over, dumping out the shattered Millennium Puzzle.

“Are all of the pieces there?” asked Mokuba, picking up one of the corners and looking it over curiously.

Yugi spread them all out on the bed before him. He set the top piece, still attached to the chain, aside and looked around. “I think so. We’ll soon find out, at least.”

“Didn’t that take you eight years to put together, though?” asked Mokuba, “Do you really think you’ll finish it sitting here?”

Yugi smiled. “I had to fix the Puzzle once since I initially put it together, and that was in a burning warehouse. It’s almost like riding a bike. Once you first learn it, you never really forget it.”

“Oh.”

Yugi looked up. “Do you want to rest, Roland? You look like you need it. I can sit in the chair and build the Puzzle if you want the bed.”

Roland shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, Mr. Muto. But I need to be awake in case certain individuals make it through that door.”

Mokuba looked back towards the door, hidden from view by the privacy curtains. “I thought you said the police covered the exits. Do you really think they’re going to get past them all the way here?”

Roland leveled him a stern gaze. “I refuse to take that chance.”

~~*~~

Yugi yawned and slowly opened his eyes. He didn’t remember falling back to sleep, but after the agonizing last few days, he wouldn’t say no to the extra rest. He rubbed the last bit of sleep from his eyes and glanced around.

The Millennium Puzzle, now put together, sat on the small tray table between his bed and the window. Mindful of the IV still coming out of his wrist, he reached for it and placed it around his neck, and immediately felt the familiar presence of the Pharaoh’s spirit.

/Yugi! Are you alright?/

**/I’m fine…how long have I been asleep?/**

/Almost an entire day! Your friends have been very worried about you./

Yugi took another glance around. The lights in the room had dimmed, and the table lamp set between his and Seto’s bed was on. All of the chairs his friends supposedly sat in when he was out the last time were gone, as was Mokuba and Roland, and the privacy curtains that had been set up were pushed back against the wall. The room was eerily silent, except from the constant beeping from the machines Seto was still hooked up to.

He blinked and studied his rival. Seto was still unconscious, and the dark contusions along his neck didn’t look any better than when he woke the last time. Yugi rubbed a hand along his own neck, trying to mirror where they would be on his own body. From the shape of the bruises, it looked as if someone had tried to strangle him, and he swallowed nervously. Kaiba was _tall_ and he had watched firsthand how skilled he was in fighting and self-defense while trapped in that compound. So for someone to be able to get a one up on him enough that they did so much damage, they must be either be very strong or super lucky.

His eyes fell on Seto’s bandaged hands, and he remembered Mokuba telling him that he had also suffered from electrical burns. Maybe whoever took him out tried to fry him first and fought dirty. Either way, it seemed Kaiba was lucky to be alive.

But…considering that the last time he was awake, his kidnappers were somewhere in the hospital, and the lack of security nearby was rather off-putting. He can’t imagine that Roland – or at the very least, _Mokuba –_ would have left them both completely alone.

**/Where is everyone, Pharaoh?/**

With a quick golden flash of the Millennium Puzzle, Yami phased out, and perched himself onto the edge of Yugi’s bed. “ _It is the middle of the night, Yugi. It seems visitors are not allowed past a certain time in this place.”_

Yugi tilted his head, puzzled. “But…they weren’t here the last time I was awake. The hospital was under lockdown. What happened with that?”

Yami sighed. “ _I’m afraid I couldn’t say. It was hard to keep track of what was going on while you were unconscious. I tried not to push too far to connect a link before the Puzzle was put back together and end up disturbing your rest.”_

The door suddenly opened, admitting Mokuba, Roland, and a woman that Yugi didn’t recognize at all. She wasn’t wearing scrubs or a doctor’s coat, but a suit with a law enforcement badge clipped to the front of her jacket.

“Good evening, Mr. Muto,” she said, then paused and looked at her watch. “Well, technically it’s morning now. I’m Detective Soto in charge of your case.” She dragged two side chairs into the aisle between his and Seto’s beds for herself and Roland, and Mokuba took up the one on the opposite side of his brother’s bed and laid his head down awkwardly against the mattress.

“Uh, hi.”

“I know you’ve been through quite an ordeal, and I wanted to check in and see how you’re doing. May I call you Yugi?”

“Oh, sure,” said Yugi, shrugging. “And…I’m feeling as well as I can be, considering everything. I really wasn’t hurt too much.”

Detective Soto nodded. “I’m glad to hear it. I was wondering if I might be able to get a statement from you, while the events may still be fresh in your mind?”

“Yeah…that’s fine,” Yugi said. “Can I ask you something first?”

“Of course.”

Yugi scratched at his forehead. “Well…when I woke up before, the hospital was on lockdown. Are we still?”

“No,” said Roland, tight-lipped, “they were caught…”

Yugi sagged back against his pillows, relief clearly visible on his face.

Mokuba clutched at his brother’s blankets and sniffed.

Yugi turned his head and eyed Mokuba carefully. He was naturally upset over his brother’s condition, but he wasn’t this miserable yesterday. Did something happen between then and now?

Roland continued. “But not before _one_ of them made it to the room.”

Yugi’s eyes widened and his gaze darted to Seto and Mokuba. No wonder Mokuba was so distressed. Had he been hurt? “They didn’t…”

“No,” said Roland, and he reached up with his left hand to massage his temples, and it was then that Yugi noticed that his hand had been thoroughly bandaged, and he didn’t remember it being that way before. “He was caught, and if it weren’t for the…” he side-eye glared at Detective Soto, “ _eventual_ intervention by law enforcement, he would be in custody of the morgue, not the police.”

“He slipped through under the guise of an officer, and radioed a convincing diversion,” Detective Soto explained, “Unfortunately, he did not expect to find resistance inside your room.”

“He didn’t get to harm Mokuba or Mr. Kaiba,” said Roland, “though if it were up to me, he wouldn’t have needed medical attention afterwards.”

Yugi cringed. He had only ever seen Seto’s security head officiating tournaments or helping fly the helicopter that took them to Dartz. It was hard for him to picture the stoic, yet sometimes panicked guard in a serious fight.

“He clocked ‘im with the fire extinguisher,” Mokuba mumbled, more into Seto’s blankets than to anyone.

Roland deadpanned. “I was merely returning the favor.”

Detective Soto cleared her throat. “I’m sure you could probably tell this was not the same place you woke up in yesterday. For security reasons and as a precaution, we had you both transferred to a different room.”

“Your friends are staying in a _different_ hotel nearby,” said Roland, seeming to guess Yugi’s next question, “They will be back to see you in the morning.”

Yugi nodded. “I can’t wait to see them.”

“We will, of course, get statements from them as well, since they were instrumental in finding you,” said Detective Soto, “For now, yours and Roland’s accounts will be enough to get started.”

“I can only tell so much,” said Yugi, “While we were missing, Kaiba and I had split up, so there’s a lot that happened afterwards that I won’t know.”

“That’s alright,” said Detective Soto, “I’m sure Mr. Kaiba will be willing to share his side when he is able.” She pulled what appeared to be a phone from her pocket and sat it on the arm of her chair. “Are you comfortable with me recording your story?”

“That’s fine.”

“Alright.” She tapped the screen a few times. “If we can, I’d like to get a complete recount of what brought you here, so we can corroborate any security footage that gets pulled. Is that okay?”

Yugi nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”

“Excellent.” She tapped the screen one more time and began her recording. “This is Detective Mira Soto conducting a witness interview in regard to Case #7597. May I have your names and occupations for our records?”

“Roland Isono, personal bodyguard for Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, and Head of Security for the Kaiba Corporation.”

“Yugi Muto, and, um, high schooler? Duelist? I’m not sure what would count for that.”

“Student is fine,” said Detective Soto. “Okay, let’s start from the very beginning…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes reference to the events of another story of mine, _Let it Snow_ , where Yugi and the gang are stranded at Kaiba's place during Christmas. It's not completely necessary to read that to make it through this story, but some of the conversation details in this chapter may otherwise be a bit confusing.

"What brought you to Himota?" asked Detective Soto.

"Well," said Yugi, thinking back, "I guess this all started a few weeks ago, when Mokuba came to visit the shop after school that one day…."

* * *

_Three Weeks Ago…_

Game night at the Muto house was always something to behold, despite it currently being the middle of the day. It was one of the few times that the Duel Monsters cards and duel disks were left put away. Usually, game night consisted of testing out some of the newer products that came into the shop ahead of their release, so Yugi and his grandfather had something to promote when they were able to stock it on the shelf.

On this particular day, Joey, Tristan, and Téa were gathered around the shop's front counter as Yugi carefully opened up their newest board game sample box.

"Oh, this looks fun," said Téa, "It reminds me of Bakura's Monster World table, only smaller, and without the Spirit of the Ring's magic to ruin it."

Tristan laughed and picked up one of the playing pieces. "You read my mind. Check out this cool archer!"

"Is this the one we're playin' tonight, Yug'?" asked Joey.

"I think so, unless there's something else you guys want to do," said Yugi. "We got a few new things in on the last shipment, but this is the only one with a proper display set."

"Nah, this is good," said Joey, sliding around the counter as the shop bell rang, announcing a new customer.

"Welcome to the Game Shop," said Yugi, automatically. He hadn't yet looked up from leafing through the instructional booklet. "How can I help you to–oh! Mokuba! What brings you here?"

Téa turned around. "Hi Mokuba!"

"Hi!" said the younger Kaiba cheerfully, "What's going on?"

"Nuthin' too much. Yug's holdin' down the fort while Gramps is out grocery shopping," said Joey.

Mokuba looked around the Game Shop. The last time he had come here, it was out of desperation, when the Big 5 had locked Seto into his first virtual reality game. He'll never remember just how he corralled enough energy to bolt across town on foot  _in the rain_  to get here, but at least now the sun was shining, it was the middle of the day, and his driver dropped him off on the way home from school.

"Anything in particular you're looking for?" asked Yugi. "We were just checking out this new game to put on display for next week, and we're going to give it a trial run tonight. …Would…would you like to join us?"

Mokuba shook his head, smiling. "Nah, but thanks for the offer. I'm supposed to be heading to Kaiba Corp, but wanted to detour for a quick second." He looked around to the group. "You guys got a minute?"

"Sure," said Tristan, leaning back against the front counter. "What's up, kid?"

"Well…you remember what happened at Christmas?"

"How could we forget?" said Yugi, "It was really nice of you and Kaiba to let us stay during that snowstorm."

"Well, it wasn't like we were gonna throw you out," said Mokuba, "Though I'm sure Seto  _really_ wanted to, but eh."

"He's completely healed over right? There weren't any complication from his accident?" asked Téa.

"Huh? Oh, no. He was fine by the time we went home. But…I really wanted to thank you guys for making Christmas special for me, since Seto was laid up for the majority of our week."

"There's no need, Mokuba, really," said Yugi. "If anything, I feel like we owed  _you_ for interrupting your vacation."

Mokuba waved a hand. "Semantics."

Joey snorted. "You even know what that word means?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Duh. Do  _you_?" He didn't even wait for Joey's double-blink, reached into his backpack, and pulled out an envelope. "This is for you guys."

Téa took it from him and opened it up. Out fell a series of documents.

Tristan peered over her shoulder. "What is all this?"

"A ski trip," said Mokuba, "At that new resort up north in Himota that opened a few months ago."

Joey's jaw dropped. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," said Mokuba, and he shuffled his feet along the floor.

"That is really generous of you, Mokuba!" said Yugi.

"So you'll go?" Mokuba asked eagerly.

"Heck yeah!" said Joey, before anyone else could say anything. "I'm not gonna say no to a free vacation!"

"Is it really though?" said Tristan, peering over the hotel reservation. "What's the catch?"

"No catch…" Mokuba said slowly.

Yugi shook his head. "This is almost  _too_ generous of you, Mokuba. We have to give you something towards it, we can't let you pay for this entire trip on your own."

"Sure we can," said Joey, "Mokuba's as loaded as his big brother."

"Well,  _technically_ , Seto paid for it," said Mokuba.

They all froze.

Joey looked from Yugi to Tristan. "Nuh uh. Kaiba's not gonna pay for  _us_ to have fun. He'd rather rip up his  _Blue Eyes_ cards –  _and eat them –_ before somethin' like that."

Mokuba sighed. "I was the one who pitched it to him. This resort? They're having this conference at the same time as your trip. Seto  _has_ to go as a representative of Kaiba Corp. And he's not going to leave me home by myself, so I get to go too. But I don't want to spend all week tagging along with a bunch of suits. So…if you guys want to come too, we can all have fun skiing while Seto's there working."

"Aaaand there's the catch," said Tristan.

"Not really," said Mokuba, "All you have to do is come. Travel and lodging is already taken care of. Food too, because they have a buffet going each day so you don't have to buy your meals."

"I'm still in," Joey said quickly, "You had me at buffet."

Téa rolled her eyes.

"When is the trip?" asked Yugi, reaching for the envelope.

"A few weeks from now," said Mokuba, "I know it's really last minute, but think about it and let me know?"

"Don't gotta think about it," said Joey, "I'm in. Now, I'm not too keen on spendin' my vacation with  _Kaiba_ , but if he's gonna be busy someplace rather than buggin' us, I'm cool with that."

"It shouldn't be a problem," said Yugi, "But I'll still talk to Grandpa about it when he gets home later."

Mokuba nodded. "That's fair."

"I'm certain my parents will let me go," said Téa, "They were bummed out when we got stranded during the snowstorm in December."

"Same," said Tristan, " _Really_ getting to hit the slopes this time? Count me in!"

* * *

Roland entered Seto's office with a quick knock on the door frame. "I have the report you requested, Mr. Kaiba."

Seto straightened up in his chair and dropped the pen he had been idly twirling around his fingers onto the desk. "Good. How much data was lost?"

"Only very little," said Roland, "The virus that was launched during the Grand Championship didn't make it to any vital files."

Seto nodded, and studied the stern look on Roland's face, and noted the second folder in his assistant's hands. "So what's  _that_?"

"IT is finishing up their work strengthening the internal system," said Roland, "But I found something else in our search. Apparently money is being siphoned into an old dormant account."

Seto reached for the report. "What sort of an account?"

Roland shook his head. "I don't know. All I found is an account number that hasn't shown a record of debiting any funds since the days of your predecessor. But small increments have been loaded in ever since. On their own, in comparison to our profits, it is merely change, but altogether it is quite a magnificent sum."

"Someone's been leeching money since Shroeder's virus?" Seto narrowed his eyes. " _Who_?"

"No, sir – since you've taken the helm," Roland corrected, "Funds have been deposited every month for the last two years."

Seto was suddenly glad that he wasn't holding anything. The pen he had discarded earlier would have splintered apart in his hand. Why wasn't he made aware of this before?

"Again –  _who_?"

"That's the problem," said Roland, pointing to a line item on the report. "The only thing I can find is an account number. No bank information, no name. Almost like a ghost account."

" _Someone_  has to know about it," said Seto, "Check with Finance. Payroll. R&D if you have to. But I need that funding stopped until I know what it's for."

Roland nodded, turned on his heel, and swiftly left the office.

Seto sighed, swiveled his chair around to face the wall-long window, and gazed down at the rest of the city below.

"One time," he said to the empty office. "Can't anything run smoothly for  _once_?"

Though, he thought, a mysterious account funneling money was relatively low on the mayhem scale. It wasn't as if the sum was enough for someone to try and buy out his company –  _again_. There was no maniac with a gaudy golden artifact running around trying to kill Yugi or drop duelists into comas. No glowing green rocks that were stealing souls to resurrect a giant flying lizard. There wasn't even a Duel Monsters Tournament.

Just someone trying their hand at embezzlement.  _That_ was fairly tame. After all of the ludicrous things he experienced running around with Yugi Muto these past few years, he could handle someone trying to steal a cut of the company profits.

What concerned him was how long it had gone undetected. Roland still had a great deal of digging to do, but whoever was behind this was clever enough to leave as little information as possible. And these transactions dated all the way back to when he forced Gozaburo out. A lot of Gozaburo-loyalists were employed during the transition, and by now, all of them had since left. The Duelist Kingdom debacle had helped to weed out the rest of the more stubborn employees with the quick removal of the Big 5.

And if the timing was only a coincidence? The embezzler could be  _anyone_. Between the offices in Domino  _and_ New York, there were  _hundreds_ of employees. Investigating through them all would definitely take time. And if they truly covered their tracks, Roland was going to have one hell of a hunt finding the responsible party. But at the very least, cutting off access to the account should be a fairly simple fix.

"What're you lookin' at, bro?" asked Mokuba, shuffling inside and dropping his bag onto the office couch.

"Nothing in particular," said Seto.

Mokuba hopped up onto the couch, swinging his legs back and forth. "You gonna be ready to head home soon? You  _promised_ we'd leave on time today."

Seto sighed. "I know. We'll go after I finish this report."

Mokuba beamed as his brother sat back down, spun the chair back to the desk, and continued his work.

"You're later than normal," said Seto idly, tapping the pen against the papers. "Did you stay late at school again?"

"No," said Mokuba, "I visited Yugi and the others at the Game Shop."

"Oh." The tone in Seto's voice was less-than-stellar. "I take it they instantly hopped on that trip, huh."

"Joey did," Mokuba shrugged.

" _Of course_  he did."

"Yugi said he'd talk it over with his grandfather," said Mokuba, "But with all the other trips they manage to go on, I don't see them  _not_ coming."

Seto exhaled loudly. " _Joy_."

"I don't see why you're so…" Mokuba gestured wildly with his hand while he searched for the proper words. "…So  _blah_  about it. You're gonna be in meetings most of the time. You'll probably see very little of Yugi or his friends."

"Color me jealous," Seto deadpanned, "that you will be enjoying yourself.  _I_ will be stuck in  _Pegasus's_  company. For  _hours_.  _Every. Day._ "

Mokuba stuck his tongue out. "Yeah, but Roland will be with you, so you won't be  _truly_ alone…."

"He'll be there to make sure I don't end up committing a murder." Seto sighed, closed the laptop, and reached for his coat. "Ready?"

"Uh huh!" Mokuba grabbed his bag and skipped towards the door. "And let's face it. You know he'd help bury the body. He despises Pegasus  _almost_ as much as you do!"

"It's hard to believe there's another person out there that contain  _that_  level of disdain for a specific thing," said Seto, hitting the button for the elevator.

"Yeah. It's almost scary how alike you both are."

Seto crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the elevator as the doors slid shut behind them and started its descent down the tower. "I take it you took care of all of the Nerd Herd's arrangements?"

Mokuba nodded energetically. "Uh huh! They'll be there the same time we will! I was able to get them a few rooms together, and saved money on travel all at the same time!"

Seto raised an eyebrow. He looked into the travel to Himota also, before giving Mokuba the rather forced green light to invite Yugi and his friends. How Mokuba found a way to save costs on the trip (not that they  _needed_ to be frugal) was rather interesting. At the same time…he was afraid to find out.

"And how did you manage that?"

Once Mokuba bit his lip, Seto was  _certain_ he wasn't going to like the answer.

"I got a group discount by adding their train tickets to ours!"

Seto closed his eyes and thumped his head back against the wall of the elevator hard enough he saw stars behind his eyelids. " _Ugh…._ "

Mokuba snickered. "You never said I couldn't do it…."

"I don't know what I did to make you torture me like this," said Seto, staring up at the elevator ceiling. "But I'm sorry."

"Relax, bro – their seats aren't right next to ours."

"Oh thank you," Seto let out a loud relieved sigh.

"But I've never been on a train before, so I purposely didn't pick the bullet train, so there'd be more time to relax. And I figured once the conference is over, you'd need the extra time to unwind before we got home and you went back to work…so, yeah…." He wrapped his arms around his brother's waist and hugged tightly. "You're…you're not  _too_ mad, are you? It…just didn't make sense for them to travel alone when we were all going to the same place…."

Seto didn't say anything.

Mokuba's face fell. "…Seto?"

"I'm not mad," Seto said finally, though it sounded somewhat forced, as the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. "But if I have to spend  _hours_ in the company of only Yugi's friends, I don't want the stink-eye for bringing work or earplugs or  _anything_ to keep them out of my hair."

"…Okay. Are you  _sure_ you're not mad?"

Seto sighed and led his brother outside to the waiting car. "I'm not mad," he repeated, "But if you don't trip Wheeler up on the slopes at least  _once_ , I'll be very disappointed."

"I don't know if Joey knows  _how_ to ski. We might all be on beginner courses."

"Good. Then when he wipes out, it won't put him in the hospital. And I want  _video_."

Mokuba laughed. "Deal!"


End file.
